Goodby Silverstein & Partners: A hit song & 200 people make Better Days possible for those with mental health

October 8, 2019

Silence is one of the challenges that people with mental health issues face. Silence, because it’s difficult to talk about having mental health issues. Silence, because it’s difficult to talk to people with mental health issues.

The partners put One Medical together with iHeartMedia and its new a musical podcast narrated by Dennis Quaid, Bear and a Banjo, to release a song called Better Days.

The debut of Better Days on October 3 coincided with the launch of the Bear and a Banjo project. It was created using over 200 anonymous internet posts about mental health, sourced predominantly from Reddit. It was written by four-time Grammy winner Jason Poo Bear Boyd (Justin Bieber’s main songwriting collaborator) and Jingle Jared Gutstadt, chief creative officer of music company, Jingle Punks, who are the musicians behind the feature songs for Bear and a Banjo.

The Bear and a Banjo podcast is a historical fiction anthology built around the characters, Bear and Banjo, with Quaid playing the character Dr Q. It covers the eras from the 1930s and 1970s and follows its protagonists as they experience important moments in US history. Each episode culminates in a song that will be featured in a Bear and a Banjo album produced by T Bone Burnett and featuring tunes by Boyd, Gutstadt and Bob Dylan.

The aim of Better Days is to remind people facing mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, that they are not alone.

“People talk much more openly about their mental health online because they can remain anonymous,” explained Tristan Graham, creative director at the agency. “That’s what led us to the idea of creating a pop song out of anonymous internet posts—we wanted to move mental health conversations out of the shadows and into the mainstream.”

One Medical is committed to treating the whole person, inclusive of both physical and mental health. According to research, less than 5% of people in America are screened for depression in the primary care process, and One Medical has implemented an automated mental health screening system to capture 100% of adult patients.

“Mental health issues affect nearly half of our patients,” stated Doug Sweeny, One Medical chief marketing officer. “Our hope is that this song will encourage people to talk about how they’re feeling, whether that’s with a doctor, practitioner, other mental health professional or a loved one.”

Better Days is available iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Music and iTunes.